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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It’s a car theft with a shocking paper trail.

You may not believe this, but it looks like the culprit left their own pay stub in the vehicle.

It was a smooth operation.

Corey Sprague’s car was stolen from the gas station in Covington Pike.

“They were good. They were slick,” he said.

He says he was inside buying a pack of cigarettes when someone pulled up, got out of their vehicle and took off with his.

“There was two guys in the front seat. He was in the backseat. He hoped out and got in my car. Their car pulled off one way, my car pulled off the other,” Sprague said. “I was in there and out. It was gone quicker than I could even blink.”

Police eventually found the car abandoned and Sprague made a surprising discovery when he picked it up from the impound lot.

“You can ask the tow lady. I started punching my car seat. I started laughing. She said ‘What’s going on?’ I said the criminal left his pay stub in my driver’s seat,” Sprague said.

In truth, he’s not sure if the stub belongs to the thief, but he figures it at least belongs to someone who knows the thief.

Either way, police have the stub.

But no arrests have been made.

“I think he should do time. I mean, I’ve had to, I’ve been in trouble before, paid consequences. He can pay consequences as well,” he said.

Sprague admits, he made it pretty easy.

He left his car running with the keys inside.

“I thought I was dumb for leaving the keys in the car. He’s extremely dumb for leaving his pay stub in the stolen car,” he said.

It’s a clue he hopes leads to results.

We tried reaching out on social media to a man we believe the pay stub belongs to, but he has not gotten back to us.